When Jesus began his ministry in Nazareth , he stood before a group of faithful people who had gathered in the synagogue there, and he quoted words that had been written by the prophet, Isaiah, centuries before: “The spirit of the Lord is on me, for he has anointed me to bring good news to the afflicted and broken hearted.” (Luke 4:18) 

I’m unashamed to say that I’m a “Mama’s Boy”. Whenever I needed something and I couldn’t get it from my dad, I always turned to my mum and without a doubt my dad would give in.

Today we celebrate the feast of the Baptism of the Lord and, with it, conclude the Christmas season. Last week we celebrated Jesus’ manifestation to the world as the Light of the Nations, and today we celebrate the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. Jesus begins his ministry with his baptism through John the Baptist in the river Jordan.

During this Christmas Season, I am sure we have been touched by the rich expanse of our human story that this Season offers in utter simplicity.

I feel squeamish when I see those paintings of Jesus, with Mary and Joseph, which depict this trio as the ideal family!  In reality, no one in the Middle East, either now or 2000 years ago, would consider a mother+father+child as a family unit.

The account in Luke’s gospel of Mary going to visit her cousin Elizabeth tells us that Our Lady “arose and went with haste” to share the joy she carried in her heart and in her womb, reflected Pope Francis in last Sunday’s Angelus address.

“She arose and went. In the last stretch of the journey of Advent, let us be guided by these two verbs. To arise and to go in haste: these are the two movements that Mary made and that she invites us also to make as Christmas approaches.”

Well, here we are, at the end of the Advent season and about to approach the crib of the Christ-child with awe and wonder.

How are these days for you? Are they hectic and frantic as you finalise preparations for Christmas gatherings and buy those final gifts for the tree? Or will you be able to carve out even a small amount of time to ponder quietly the miracle that we celebrate.

A Christmas quip goes: “Don’t get so preoccupied in what the world has to sell that you miss what God has to give”.

Bula from Fiji, where I am at home, visiting my family, especially my mother who is struggling health-wise. What a gift it is to have our travel borders beginning to open up again.

The pandemic lockdown period gave us missionaries and many others, a taste of what it must have been like for our first missionaries, including St Joseph Freinademetz, who left their home and family knowing they would most likely never return.

In Australia and New Zealand, we are  familiar with the presence of people on TV using sign language. When an important announcement is made, the speaker is accompanied by an interpreter who uses sign language to speak to the deaf audience.